Customer Reviews

Faces of America

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This four-part, four-hour series aired on PBS earlier this year. Co-executive produced and superbly by Henry Louis Gates Jr. - the Harvard professor who is one of the leading historians on African American culture and history - this show will keep you engaged from beginning to end. No, it's not a history of African Americans - though one of the 12 "well known" persons (I hate to call them celebrities) is back (poet Elizabeth Alexander).

What Gates and his team (note there is no "Director" listed on the main credits) did was find 12 folks you've probably heard of and traced their lineage back at least 4 generations - in some cases as far back as 15 generations. (One of them is a distant cousin of Charlemagne! I won't tell you which one though.) The diverse group includes skater Kristi Yamaguchi, chef Mario Batalli, comedian Stephen Colbert (you learn how his name pronounced), cellist Yo-Yo Ma (you'll learn where his name Yo-Yo came from), Director Mike Nichols, Desperate Housewives star Eva Longoria (a true Tex-Mex woman as you'll see), actress Meryl Streep and even a real Queen (Queen Noor of Jordan!).

The stories are not told linearly and Gates - who not only meets with the subjects in their own home or workplace, but also travels the world - jumps back and forth. Batalli and Nichols show up in Episode One but don't come back until Episode Four. Streep seems to be in every one, as does Colbert. For much of the fourth episode the discussion turns to genealogy through DNA testing. Fascinating, but a bit more complicated than the physical research covered until that point.

Each of the subjects gets a unique surprise finding and I'll not spoil the fun for you by revealing any of them here. I found the Ma family history and Mike Nichols to be the most surprising.

The music - by Michael Bacon (Kevin's brother and half of The Bacon Brothers band) - sometimes gets in the way, but that's minor issue. The show is fascinating and I highly recommend it.

There are no bonus features - just scene selection.

Watching this may send you off to find your own family history. Unlike the dozen covered here, you won't have Gates and his huge team to help you though.

Steve Ramm
"Anything Phonographic"

I have a favorite story here -- that of Yo-Yo Ma -- but it doesn't stop there. Kristi Yamaguchi's story is also deeply moving.

And when it is revealed to Latina Tex-Mex actress Longoria that she and Yo-Yo Ma share an ancester, she leans forward and asks --

"He's Mexican!?"

Warm, and rich, it will stretch your imagination and understanding of the actual history of the US, and the complexities of the US's fabric. At the same time, this series is shows that we are all more alike than different. Kudos to Professor Gates for his wonderful generosity (see his gift to Yo-Yo Ma!), which is given not only to the celebrities upon whom he focuses but to all of us.

Don't miss this!

Faces of America is very interesting and educational. If you have children, watch it with them and see their eyes light up. It's not just genealogical, it's a history of the country as well. Can't recommend it too highly!

Henry Louis Gates Jr. selects a collection of various well-known Americans of apparently different ethnocentric origins. He researches their ancestry and deoxyribonucleic acid to find out things about the background of each person and then presents the finding to them and us.

The presentation is in four one-hour parts. Each part has the same subjects. They are just taken back further in history or a different facet of their lives. The presentation style is in sound bite form where Henry goes round robin form one person to the next and back again. This does not necessary follow any logical pattern.

However, we find this fascinating and makes one speculate about one's own origins. There are more in-depth presentations and more detailed in how they go about it. Nevertheless, this program stands well on its own.


"Who Do You Think You Are?" (2010 TV series documentary) U.S. version of the BBC series

Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 1-4 - 12-DVD Box Set ( Who Do You Think You Are? - Series One, Two, Three & Four ) ( Who Do You Think You Are?: Series 1 - 4 & How To Trace Your [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.2 Import - United Kingdom ]

Excellent DVD for anyone interested in tracing their family roots.
Interesting because everyone can relate to anyone of these famous
people that we know.

The best part of watching a show like this is the realization that we all come from the same place. You may think there's a difference between black, white, asian, hispanic -- you name it, but there really isn't. And we've all got a little bit of everyone in us.

Professor Gates has explored the geneology of current stars and presented them and us with their forebearers and their forebearers' histories. Kristi Yamaguchi learned of how heroic her forebearers were. We are lucky to share in her story. Professor Gates has just the right tone. I found this program fascinating.

I have seen this program on PBS. I purchased it for the library which I run. Unfortunately, prepared it for the shelf without looking at it first. I later found that I had received a bad disc. It skips throughout. I have tried cleaning the disk and cleaning my computer, but with little improvement. I feel I wasted the library's money.

Excellent series, another great PBS program that I'm proud to have in my DVD collection.

Knowing your heritage creates a sense of self and where you fit in history. I have so much admiration for our ancestors who paved the way.